Thursday, May 26, 2011

DELAWARE, OH - The Calvin men’s and women’s track and field teams had a solid first day of competition at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University. On the women’s side, Calvin senior Rachel Boerner (Bergenfield, NJ/Hillcrest Lutheran Academy) will have a chance to defend her national title in the 400 meter hurdles as she advanced to Saturday’s finals in the event with a time of 1:01.38 that was good for first place in her prelim heat Thursday night and was the fifth-fastest time of the prelims. On the men’s side, senior Alex Wrobel (Arden Hills, MN/Moundsview HS) and sophomore Greg Whittle (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg HS) both advanced to Saturday’s finals in the 1,500 meters as Whittle won his heat of the evening prelims Thursday with a time of 3:57.41 while Wrobel was third in his prelim heat with a time of 3:57.61. Whittle had the second-fastest time out of the two prelims heats combined while Wrobel’s time was the eight-best of the two prelim heats.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

DELAWARE, OH - The individuals representing the Calvin track and field teams at the NCAA III Outdoor Championships joined with other fellow competitors Wednesday night on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University for a pre-nationals dinner. At the dinner, head coach Bret Otte was presented with the Great Lakes Women’s Regional Coach of the Year Award. Calvin sports information student assistant Mitch Blankespoor caught up with Bret Otte and with Calvin distance coach Brian Diemer for pair of audio interviews looking ahead to the next three days.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Calvin College head track and field coach Bret Otte has been named the Division III Great Lakes Regional Women’s Track and Field Coach of the Year by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. Now in his second year at the helm of the Calvin men’s and women’s track and field program, Otte is receiving Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year honors for the first time.This spring, Otte led the Calvin women’s track and field team to its 22nd straight MIAA title including the second under his watch. At the MIAA Championships earlier this month, his athletes took first place in 10 events. The Calvin women’s track and field team is currently ranked 10th nationally and number-one in the most recent Great Lakes Regional computer poll as conducted by the USTFCCCA.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Calvin menís and womenís track and field teams continue to hold their respective spots in the final Division III Top 25 poll released by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The rankings are computerized polls. The Calvin men are again ranked 15th in this weekís poll while the Calvin women are again ranked 10th. In addition, the Calvin men are ranked second in the Great Lakes Region by the USTFCCCA, up one spot from a week ago, while the Calvin women are again the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Calvin men’s and women’s track and field teams will send a combined 12 athletes to the upcoming NCAA III Track and Field Championships including 6 from its women’s team and six from its men’s team. Scheduled to represent the Calvin men’s team are seniors Alex Wrobel and Ben Van Wyk, juniors Dan Kerr, Rhett Morrici and Nick Kramer and sophomore Greg Whittle. Representing the Calvin women’s team will be seniors Rachel Boerner, Sarah Reasoner, Gretchen Braymer, junior Jodi Hoekstra and sophomores Carissa Verkaik and Alyssa Penning. The NCAA III Track and Field Championships will be held May 26-28 at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

NAPERVILLE, IL - With her first and only chance to qualify for the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Calvin College sophomore Alyssa Penning stepped up and delivered Friday night at the Gregory Invitational hosted by North Central College. A graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Penning took first place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with an NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 10:43.97. Her time was less than a second off an automatic qualifying time and places her 10th on the national qualifying list. The performance will almost certainly assure her of a trip to the NCAA III Championships next weekend in Delaware, Ohio. A Dean’s List student at Calvin majoring in Spanish, Penning has missed nearly the entire outdoor track and field season as she spent the second semester studying in Spain to fulfill requirements for her academic major. While in Spain, Penning trained on her own and returned to Calvin earlier this week. Her race on Friday night was her first of the outdoor track and field season and also was a career-best effort.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Calvin men’s and women’s track and field teams are both ranked in this week’s Division III Top 25 poll released by the United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The rankings are computerized polls. The computer rankings are new for the 2011 season. Mathematical formulae based on current national descending-order lists in all events are used to compile a team’s ranking. The purpose of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots at the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Calvin men are ranked 15th in this week’s poll while the Calvin women are ranked 10th. In addition, the Calvin men are ranked third in the Great Lakes Region by the USTFCCCA while the Calvin women are the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

NAPERVILLE, IL Ė The Calvin menís and womenís track and field teams sent a group of athletes to the Dr. Keeler Invitational Thursday and Friday and came away with a handful of standout performances. Junior Nick Kramer (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) led the way for the menís team with an NCAA III automatic qualifying time in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, clocking in with a season-best effort of 9:06.04. Sophomore teammate Matt VanderRoest (Ann Arbor/Ann Arbor Huron HS) also had a season-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying time of 9:16.54. On the womenís side, junior Jodi Hoekstra (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian HS) just missed a provisional time in the 1,500 meters, clocking in with a season-best effort of 4:38.97. Junior Kaitlin Diemer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) also had a season-best time of 4:39.74. In the womenís javelin, senior Kim Wigboldy (Chandler, AZ/Valley Christian HS) had a career-best and NCAA III provisional qualifying mark of 130-3 that was good for second place.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A group of Calvin track and field athletes from both the menís and womenís teams competed at the Aquinas Twilight Invitational on Wednesday afternoon at Houseman Field. The Knights recorded many notable performances and several of them came up with season best efforts. A highlight from the womenís team came from senior Kim Wigboldy who threw a season best and NCAA III provisional qualifying distance of 128-9 in the javelin. Wigboldy also jumped 16-11 in the long jump. In the discus, senior Sarah Reasoner threw a season-best and NCAA III automatic qualifying effort of 151-10 in the discus. In the sprints, freshman Julie Busscher recorded a time of of 12.75 in the 100 meters, and a season-best time of 26.06 in the 200 meters. Freshman Hillary Banning won the triple jump with a hop-skip-and-jump of 35-4. For the men, Freshman Evert Geerlings had an excellent performance in the pole vault with a personal record of 14-3 ľ. Freshman Matt Christians jumped 6-5 in the high jump.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The All-MIAA menís and womenís track and field teams have been announced and five members of the Calvin menís team have been so honored while nine members of the Calvin womenís team have been named All-MIAA selections.Named to the All-MIAA menís team from Calvin are juniors Carson Sterchi, Dan Kerr and Nick Kramer, sophomore Greg Whittle and freshman Ryan Huffman. Named to the All-MIAA womenís team from Calvin are seniors Rachel Boerner, Gretchen Braymer, Sarah Reasoner and Samantha Westveer, juniors Kaitlin Diemer, Jodi Hoekstra and Kelly Peterson, sophomore Carissa Verkaik and freshman Julie Busscher.